Knocking At Heaven's Door
by Sephideth
Summary: "I was there, in my room. You sat beside me with the barrel of the gun, resting against my head." There are many people who love you. Even more of them leave. Celia only wanted to find her mother. She never wished for what came along the way. And she definitely never wished for a tragedy. {Goes through some of FMA03 and CoS}


**AN: Hello to everyone! First things first. Literally. It's my first time writing a story in this fandom. Secondly, I'm no expert in writing, I just do it for fun because I've got a really colourfull mind and got plenty of ideas for stories. The crappy part is, I'm not always able to put them into words sooo... they stay in my head. Yet this time I decided to change that and give it a go. I don't know how often I'll update this or when and how. The ideas just come and go and sometimes I'm stuck. Just like that.**

If **everything goes according to my plans I'll add names of songs I listened to while writing.**

 **Uhh... and one more thing. Sorry if there are some crappy errors. I really try my best! At least I try to hehe...**

 **Song: Mogwai - Take Me Somewhere Nice**

* * *

 _Ghosts in the photograph  
Never lied to me _  
_"I'd be all of that"_  
 _A false memory_

* * *

 _Ground Floor_

* * *

Waking up wasn't usually a hard thing for her. Standing up was actually something that she disliked greatly. For someone like her, it was the hardest part of the day, having the will to do it meant success. And success meant satisfaction. At least for a while.

She stared at the clear wall opposite to her sitting form. The sun shone brightly into the room. Her long eyelashes left shadows under her icy blue eyes. The long dark hair was quickly warmed by the sunlight, a strand loosely fell down from behind her ear. Who was she to complain? It was actually nice to wake up from being hugged by the sun the first thing in the morning.

She didn't have a hug in a long time. Afterall, she's alone. A long sad sigh escaped her lips.

She had a job to do. She didn't have time to mop around anymore. If she's not going to take care of her home then no one else is going to.

Slowly she stood up, grabbed her things and made her way down the hall to the bathroom. Passing all those empty rooms made her mood fall again. Such a large house for one person is too much. It seemed like her best friend was the dust gathering in those rooms, that was her longest company recently.

Passing the halls she came to a stop by a family photo that hung on the old wall. Her whole family was there, even her grandmother who passed away 10 years ago. Everyone in the family adored her, she was a wonderful person with wise eyes and clever mind. _Mother gave me my name after her._ She thought.

Celia was her name. Originally she was supposed to be literally named after her grandmother as _Calla_ yet her parents decided against it and changed the name to Celia. Why? Apparently, it had something to do with the name meaning. She only knew the meaning of her name - something her parents often told her. _**Heave**_ **n,** that was the meaning. Why did they tell her that every now and then? She didn't know.

A sigh escaped her delicate lips, remembering she had to clean the attic today. Closing her eyes, thinking of her family for a little more she made her way further down the hall till she reached the big doors leading to the bathroom.

Once she was in she quickly took a shower and changed her clothes. It was a really warm morning so she settled on some shorts and a black long sleeve shirt. At least she wanted to have comfortable clothes while cleaning.

After that, it was time for breakfast. Rummaging through her fridge, she finally found what suited her.

"It's far too quiet here." She mumbled under her nose. She stood up and turned on the radio. _Ahh, that's much better._

Indeed it is.

Silence isn't her favorite thing, as well as darkness. You could say that she was almost afraid of it.

Cleaning the rest of her breakfast she searched for the attic key.

Looking through the whole kitchen, she finally found it in one of the drawers under some old letters addressed to her father, she grimaced at the sight of them.

"I'm going to have to burn them later." With a scowl, she made her way up to the attic.

Opening the hatch took some effort since it wasn't opened for a pretty long time. Shoving it up created a big cloud of dust, Celias lungs protested with strong caught.

"Why am I doing this again?" She asked herself.

Finally, she stood and took a good look at her surroundings. There wasn't much to take care of, only some old stuff like old photos and some of her grandma's things. That was one side of the attic, on the other stood some old furniture.

To be honest, it's the second time in her life she was up there, her grandmother always forbid her going in. She told her it was dangerous. The only question was why no one was up there and the house didn't look like it was going to collapse. _Maybe granny hid here something?_ Well, might be a possibility since almost all of the things were hers.

Celia shook her head and started to rummage through the stuff that sat on the edge of the heap. What seemed to have no value to her, she put it off to the other side of the attic with the furniture. After all, no one else is going to live here beside her.

She found her mother's white ice skates. It was something she loved to do when it was cold outside, as she once described it to her; _there is no greater feeling than the wind blowing lightly at your ears, the tears rushing to your eyes from the cold and the excitement of the speed and power in your legs._

Yes, she remembered her words clearly. She would give anything to go back to those days. The days of peace and quiet with her family where nothing else mattered. She missed them greatly.

A long strand of coal black hair washed off her shoulder while she bend down, further searching through the things. After some time something caught her eye in one of the boxes. Slowly she reached for it.

A frown crept back up on her face. It was her father's old watch. What truly shocked her was that it was actually still working. How she didn't know.

The time didn't show the actual time, it was more than 6 hours back. When she tried to change it back to normal hours it didn't work, the needles didn't move an inch.

Her frown deepened at that, she made a move to throw it behind her back, her hand rose up ready to throw when it stopped. A thought struck her.

"I'm going to keep it." She said aloud. Even though she despises her father she will wear the watch as a memory of him being finally gone. Yes, that's a good start to cope with it.

Going further through the attic a strange small chest caught her attention. What was odd, the engraved name on it. _**Calla E.**_

It was her grandmother's.

Her eyes became as big as dinner plates. No one ever told her anything of her granny! Yes, she loved her even though she didn't ever tell her her last name or where she lived if she was married, where she came from. No one in her family knew a thing of her. In the end what only mattered was the fact that she was family. Mother only knew her last name, it was grandmothers as well but she was obliged to change it after her mother married. _Father never gave away the name even though I asked._

What she knew was that her family had an Italian background. That's all.

When she tried to open the strange box, it didn't budge. Only then did she realize that it was locked. And she didn't have the key. Disappointment washed over her. She was so close to finding something out. So close!

Celia didn't know what to do when an idea popped into her head.

Before her grandmother passed away she said something in Italian but what was it? She was only 8 back then! How could she remember?

Taking the small chest with her, she went back down to the kitchen, left it there and wandered to her granny's room.

She looked all around the room for some clues. On the bookshelves, in her drawers, under the bed. Nothing.

With a sigh, she plopped down on the bed that stood beside her. She placed her head in her hands. Why can't things go once smoothly for her!? The whole time, from the moment her parents left her everything was against her!

Slowly her head rose up again, eyes full of sadness. She focused on the sunset painting before her. All hues of warm colors surrounded it. What she didn't notice sooner was the writing in the right corner of it.

" _ **Sotto Il Tramonto**_ "

She stood up so quickly her head started to spin. That was it! That's what her grandmother said!

She took the painting off of the old wall, quickly she noticed the beautifully carved key hanging on the hook.

Celias face lit up with happiness.

She took the key and rushed off to the kitchen, quickly inspecting the big padlock. A rather too big one for a chest not bigger than a cutting board.

Making up her mind she opened the chest.

She suddenly couldn't breathe and tears welled in her eyes. Her mouth opened and closed like a gaping fish. Hands trembling, she reached out to the box, taking the photographs to inspect them.

There in the middle was a woman that looked like a replica of herself, the only difference was the shape of their eyes. She sat on a porch with stairs, hugging a dog with a metal leg.

"It's me...? No... It's - It's granny!" She exclaimed. While she inspected the picture she quickly noticed the dog with the metal limb attached. "Oh my god... that poor dog." It was easy to tell that it was metal even though the pictures were slightly blurry and black and white.

Her eyes started to water more when she reached for the second photo.

Two boys with really pale hair and a woman that looked somewhat alike to her grandmother were in the black and white picture. All of them were sitting under a rather large tree. Their expressions were full of happiness. _Who's that?_ She thought.

Celia turned the picture around, there on the back with a beautiful pattern wrote; _**"Don't forget us sister. Trisha E."**_ Sister? Her grandmother had a sister? Under that the place and date were written; _**Rizenbool, 1906.**_ Where was Rizenbool? She never heard of a place like this.

Celia's heart rate quickened when she noticed the letters in the box addressed to her grandmother and to someone else.

Her hands trembled with anxiety when she opened the old letter.

" _Dear Calla,_

 _I hope everything is going alright with you and Jean. I know that the both of you are soon leaving but please, find some time and come by at least once before you're gone. I would love to say goodbye directly to you, not through a letter._

 _I know that you hate it here but please, consider it one last time. Think about me, it's a goodbye, we will never see each other again. It's for forever. I don't want to lose my only little sister!"_

Celia's hands trembled even more so. Why did her grandmother leave her sister behind? Why was she so determined to leave? Something must have happened. Something that made Calla wish to be gone from that place.

" _I.. I know it's hard for you. After everything that happened. Not only will I miss you but the children as well. What am I going to tell Edward when he asks where his aunt is? What am I going to tell Alphonse when he asks if he can deliver some flowers to you? Please, Calla. We all love you."_

Tears welled in her eyes. If she were in her grandmother's place she would have never left. She would never leave someone behind.

Yet there is a problem when other people leave _you_ behind.

Wiping at her wet eyes she set the letter to the side. It's a sad thing to read, really.

She sniffled a little when she reached for the second letter. Surprisingly it wasn't opened yet. The envelope was neatly closed. Something was in it. And it didn't feel like paper at all.

Celia turned the letter around. What she saw next made her heart turn cold.

There in her hand sat a letter addressed directly to her. She didn't recognize the owner of that handwriting, so the only thing she could do was to open it. And that's what she did.

The first thing she noticed was the beautiful silver necklace.

While twirling it in her hand she noticed the shiny red gem which gave the impression of a small star. She took a good of the letter in the envelope and started to read.

 _"Dear Celia,_

 _I know that you never anticipated finding a letter addressed to you in this box. Sadly, it was the only place I could hide it from the rest of the family. I don't know how old you are right now but I do know that if you found this letter your parents are gone. Yes - I know where they are. They went home. And where is home you ask? Far away._

 _You've probably seen those pictures I've put into the box. That's home. That was my home. I lived there for years with my sister and our parents. I was 10 when they passed away and I was left with Trisha. When I turned 16 I ran away with the love of my life. I was 19 when we left that place behind._

 _That place I keep talking about is Amestris. You could say that we changed worlds.. I know you probably won't believe me but it's just like I said. The necklace is just a half of a whole. The second one was stolen from me by your father who took your mother with him to Amestris. That necklace is like a key to a door. Go and find them, take the missing part before someone else takes it from them, hopefully, it's not too late._

 _Wish for it, and it will happen. Don't fear what's about to come, embrace it._

 _I know you'll go there, not because of me, not because of your father, you'll go there because you loved your mother like nothing else._

 _Along the way, you'll probably learn the secret about the stone. It's not my place to tell you._

 _Much love,_

 _Your Grandmother Calla."_

She blankly stared at the letter, dumbfounded.

" **What?** What's that supposed to mean?!"

How could this even work? Travel between worlds? Another dimension? How?! At least she could tell her more! But nooo, you've got to find out about it all by yourself.

Why her? Wasn't it enough that she's been living alone for the past year? Yet... She wanted a family. She wanted to have her mother back, she was the only one who ever understood her. She was the only one who ever gave her a loving embrace. She was the only person who gave her hope.

Celia took the necklace into her hands to inspect it a little closer. It really did shine with energy.

She closed her palms around it and peeked inside.

"Wow..." She whispered. The whole inside was lit up with red light. She closed her eyes and relaxed against the stool in the kitchen. "Guess granny told the truth, huh?"

Should she try it? She doesn't have any purpose in staying. What would she do? Take care of the house till she's 80? Hell no.

Celia's eyes opened with a new determination in them. "I know I'm going to regret this later... but you only live once as they say." With that, she set her eyes on the red stone. You just have to wish, right?

She gulped. "I... I wish I was in Amestris." Quickly she closed her eyes and waited.

...and waited.

One eye peeked open.

And nothing happened.

"What kind of joke is tha-?!" She started to scream

But she vanished.

"Granny! I'm going out for a walk with Den!" Winry screamed through the house as she put on her boots.

"Make it quick! It's going to rain soon!" Pinako answered quickly.

"Sure, sure." Swiftly she reached for her jacket and made her way down the path with Den walking beside her.

The black clouds quickly drove her attention as she slowly walked the usual path. _It's going to downpour today, isn't it?_

As soon as she thought that, small droplets of water started to fall from the dark sky. A sigh escaped her lips. "Den! Make it quick. It's starting to rain." The dog just barked and ran off as if chasing a rabbit. "Hey, come back here! Don't you run off on me!" Quickly she ran after him.

Only when she saw the burned down house did she notice where she is.

Winry sucked in a ragged breath after running for a while and made her way to the barking dog.

She walked over the ruins of the old house. Sidestepping the logs and ruins she ended up in the center of the house. And right there, sat her dog.

"Den, what are you doi-?" Her eyes grew as large as dinner plates.

There, right beside her dog, lied a black haired girl in a pitch black long sleeve shirt and shorts.

Winry quickly noticed how long her hair was, even longer than hers. Her long eyelashes peeked out from under the curtain of hair.

The rain started to downpour, it looked like a wall of pure water was placed before Winry.

Quickly she took the fragile girl on her back and gave her a ride. What she noticed as well was that the girl was rather on the short side.

Oh well. Not everyone is made to be tall. 


End file.
